We've had a great time in Halls Gap. Lots of walking and exploring The Grampians (the area we're in), and the weather's improved greatly. Saturday afternoon was really sunny, as was the whole of Sunday.
Just as well, for on Sunday I spent a lot of cash and went rock climbing and abseiling. Yikes! As I said a month or so ago when I climbed a big big tree, I'm not great with heights. I like standing at the top of a cliff surveying all I can survey, but I'm not so good when I'm hanging over the edge of said cliff, looking down. I'd never been rock climbing, and had only abseiled once (down a tower block at uni - I was a little bit terrified), so I was really pushing myself.
I was picked up and taken to Hollow Mountain, a way away from Halls Gap. There were four other people with me, plus Nick, the instructor. Most had tried a bit of climbing before, but none were very advanced. We spent the morning learning techniques. This mostly involved learning how to tie knots and "belay". When someone is climbing, another person can belay, that is stand at the bottom holding a rope which passes through a loop at the top and then is tied to the climber. By keeping tension on the rope the person at the bottom can ensure that if the climber slips he only falls a few feet.
That done, we started climbing some fairly easy climbs. It was great fun! I love scrabbling up rocks and my long arms and legs made it fairly easy for me. Once at the top, after a look around, I had to lean back in the harness and let my belayer lower me gradually as I kind of abseiled down. This initial leaning back took some effort. It takes trust in your knots, the fitting at the top of the cliff, and your belayer. After three climbs, however, I was quite comfortable. I was handling the heights quite well, but then it wasn't that high. I was just like Sylvester Stallone in Cliffhanger.
We had lunch on the top of a mountain, with spectacular views. I had a king-size Snickers! I'd never had one before, but had used the "I'll need the energy" excuse to convince Anne to let me have one. In the end I decided that a normal Snickers is probably sufficient. Oh well, I tried.
After lunch we did harder climbs. Climbs in Australia are rated from 1 to 34 and I attempted a 16. (I didn't know it was a 16 until afterwards - I probably would have chickened out if I'd known at the start!) It was very hard - especially at the top. My fingers were killing me, as I tried harder and harder to find somewhere to plant them. They've never done so much work in my life! I was just like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible 2.
Once I'd got to the top (after a lot of pauses where I thought progress wasn't possible) I had a quick look around and realised it was too high for me (the climb was about 25 meters, but the view went further down). People at the bottom asked if I wanted some time to "take everything in". "Er, no", I squeaked, "Bring me down!" They did and I kissed the floor when I reached it. Phew!
Next was a big abseil over a cliff with an overhang. The initial step over the edge was scary, and the overhang meant that there was nowhere to put my legs after a while, so I just hung and lowered myself. I was just like Chris O'Donnel in, er, Vertical Limit (I'm fast running out of mountain climbing films). I was fine when I was looking at the cliff, but then I started rotating and could see the amazing view. I confess I closed my eyes for a bit!
What a day! I felt just like Clint Eastwood in The Eiger Sanction. I loved the climbing. I don't think I could get really into rock climbing, though might do if there was a version where the rocks were just at a steep angle, rather than vertical. I don't suppose that would be the same though.
I got back to the hostel to find that Anne had borrowed a bike and been for a cycle around Halls Gap. Having not been on a bike for 14 years (the last time she did she fell into a ditch!) this was very brave of her, and put my feats into the shadows. Thanks Anne - steal my thunder.